Disclaimer: I own half a dozen brown and gray shirts; they were white when I got them. You do the math.

EDIT: Chapter fixed and edited as of 12/16/12. Pretty sure I missed stuff. Should get a beta reader.

This chapter is brought to you by the droning voice of my International Law professor.

The First Guardian

Chapter two – Enter the Shop Owner

Morning came to Karakura town, and people arose in their homes blissfully unaware of what had happened the previous night, and for the occupants of the Kurosaki household, it was not any different.

Barring Kurosaki Ichigo, of course.

"I'm telling you, Voltron was the last thing even closely resembling anything good in that genre, you stupid sword."

"And I'm telling you, that Mighty Morphin' did pretty damn good, considering what came later."

The night of brainstorming resulted to be mostly fruitless, as any attempt at serious conversation quickly devolved into pop culture references and all manner of innuendo-laden insults.

"The girl, Ichigo, there is a girl sleeping in your room, and you're not doing absolutely anything about it."

"I am. I'm being a gentleman."

"Listen, kid… Is the problem the fact that she's a girl? Because if there's something you need to tell me – it's okay, I want you to know I'd be perfectly fine with the idea, and wouldn't think any less of you."

"You would know if I needed to."

"Yeah."

"Then why are you doing this to me?"

"I find you amusing."

"You're the worst Zanpakutō ever, if I ever get the chance to switch for anything else, I will."

"And I will move heaven and earth to stop that from happening."

"…Oh? Why?"

"See the answer to your previous question."

"Argh." That last exasperated sound was heard in the physical world and Ichigo finally noticed the first rays of dawn coming through his window, so he got off his makeshift futon and moved out of his room.

First, he needed to check on his father, and tie up the old man to whatever superficies were around his specific location, he needed to make sure he would not be caught talking to a Shinigami in his bedroom. Most of all, he needed to make sure he would not get caught talking to a girl in his room, made worse by the fact that she had obviously spent the night in there.

"Most guys would brag endlessly about it, you know. I'm not sure if the idea of you disregarding the rep that situations such as this would get you appeals to me."

"I'm not most guys, and dad would become the most insufferable being this side of the solar system. How does that appeal to you?"

"About as much as being hit in the face by projectile diarrhea. Go on."

He found Isshin asleep on the couch in the middle of the living room; it was quite obvious by the way he was lying on his face that he had just got home, perhaps just an hour ago.

"Didn't hear him arrive."

"Don't underestimate the ninja skills of a man in danger of waking up Karin Kurosaki before her alarm did."

Ichigo could not suppress a wince. That had only happened twice before. The first time, Isshin got his front teeth caved in by the handle of a vacuum cleaner. The second time, Ichigo got off with just a soul-chilling glare.

"It pays to be idolized."

"I guess. If it saves you from having your ass kicked by a little girl."

Ichigo made quick work of grabbing some of the strings used to tie up the living room's curtains and using them to tie his father's right foot to a coat hanger. He didn't feel the sound of it falling would be heard from his room so he took a ceramic plate from the kitchen and put it on top of it.

"Creative."

He didn't need any safety measures for his sisters; they always knocked and waited for him to let them into his room. So he made his way back to where the petite Shinigami was still practically in a coma.

"Last chance, Ichigo."

He didn't even feel that deserved an answer, so he just shook her shoulder while calling her name.

"Who?" The girl spoke while blinking the sleep away, she looked as if she was trying (and failing) to suppress a yawn.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, we're in my room, and you're obviously tired and perhaps a little sore as a result of the stressful activities we voluntarily participated in last night. You were fantastic before I took the lead, by the way."

"I give it a six out of ten."

"What?" That woke her up real fast, and she looked around wildly before her eyes finally focused on Ichigo.

"Oh." She remembered now, long-haired guy kicked her, a bunch of stronger-than-normal Hollows, pain, and probably the most amazing thing she had ever seen.

"Good morning." She answered, her serious face back on, and Ichigo still couldn't wrap his head around how anyone could look so good while scowling (anyone not named Kurosaki Ichigo, anyways.)

"How's your wound?" Ichigo asked "It doesn't hurt, seems like you did a good job." The girl answered, to which Ichigo just nodded, and then motioned for her to follow him out of his room.

"Where are we going?"

"I suppose you'll want to wash up, right? Last night wasn't exactly a tea ceremony."

Rukia nodded at that, and then entered a room Ichigo had pointed at.

"That's the bathroom, towels are in there, leave your clothes in the basket next to the door, I'll get you a yukata from my little sister Karin, she won't miss it. As for underwear, I'll have to get you some of mine, since both my sisters apparently put some kind of arcane spell in their underwear cabinet, so they'll know right away if someone's so much as looks inside."

Rukia nodded once again, and walked into the room. Ichigo turned to leave after she closed the door behind her, but before he reached his sister's room, remembered something about Soul Society being ridiculously behind the times and turned back around.

"The shower is the separate cubicle to your left, to make the water come out, turn the knobs sticking from the wall counter-clockwise, the one to the left is the hot water and the one to the right is cold, if you want the right temperature, turn them both equally." With that, he went back to what he had to do, sneak into Yuzu and Karin's room without being detected. It was a near-suicide mission and there were no second chances, it was do or die.

When Rukia came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body, she found a baby blue yukata with a pink flower motif on Ichigo's bed.

Oh, and a rather pale-looking Ichigo as well.

At her inquisitive look, he just assured her he was fine and left the room to let her dress in peace.

"You suck."

"Shut it, pervert."

"You need to learn Zanjutsu, desperately so."

"What's with the urgent tone?"

"I didn't want to say anything last night, seeing as your first moment of awesome as a swordsman, hell, you could have probably heard a cool theme song playing in the background. But your skills while wielding me left me kind of embarrassed, I'm only glad the only possible witness was incapable of following your movements, otherwise I'm pretty sure she'd agree."

"I think I handled myself pretty well."

"You just moved really fast and swung me like a caveman does a bone. No class or style whatsoever."

"Dad's notes didn't have much on Zanjutsu…"

"Then it's a good thing you have a trained, not to mention naked, Shinigami girl in your room."

"Here we go again-"

"However, I don't think she'd be able to teach you more than the basics."

"And why's that? She moved pretty damn well last night."

"She was, she's no doubt an expert, though I think she's more of a Kidō specialist."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I take the form of a larger-than-decency sword, something completely different from wielding a Katana-styled blade."

"I can always change your size, I'm pretty sure you were that big only because I didn't expect the ridiculous amounts of Reiatsu I'd get from awakening."

"Yet I know you won't. You like big swords."

"… I like big swords."

"Which brings me to my next point: Being a bigger blade, the spirit particles that form me are spread over a larger area than they would be in a smaller one, which means I am actually weaker in density and sharpness-wise."

"You seemed strong enough."

"Against Hollows, yes."

"… But against a Shinigami blade, I'd probably lose pretty badly. And we're likely to face other Shinigami, if our feelings on the coming shit-storm are right."

"So…"

"I have to focus putting more Reiatsu on you form without making you any larger or smaller, keeping the spirit particles in check so that they won't explode on my face or fizzle out of existence."

"And Polly earns a cookie."

"Asshole."

"My next point is probably the most important, which is also part of the reason I don't think normal Zanjutsu will do."

"And that is…?"

"Your Shinigami uniform is missing its right sleeve."

"How does that affect my… Wait. That's a swordsman thing, swordsmen who mostly depend on one-handed styles used to cut the sleeve of their sword-arm so as to give it more freedom of movement."

"And the conclusion is…?"

"… I have to wield a six feet long behemoth using one hand?"

"For the most part, yes. But think about the benefits rather than the difficulty of the task."

"I'd uh… have a free arm?"

"Yes."

"And what do I do with it, get a shield?"

"Stop thinking manga and video games. Kidō arts, moron, you should be able to cut your enemies in half while blowing up even more enemies with Hadō."

"My life is a lot easier when you're blunt."

"And let's not forget about the Torn Card."

"What with it? I don't think I'll need it anymore."

"You've been using it to fight for so long, saturating it with my power, that I wouldn't be surprised if its nature wasn't all that different from that of a Zanpakutō."

"Wait, hold it. What? Is it going to suddenly start talking inside of my head?"

"Hell no. If it did, I'd kill it with extreme prejudice. This is my space; I'm not sharing it with anyone else."

"Then what do you mean?"

"You could call it an anti-hollow weapon. Perhaps you could use it for Kidō, just keep it in your person at all times, up your only sleeve, that way, it could be a secondary or secret weapon."

"A trump card of sorts, huh? Sounds good."

"Never hurts to have an ace in the hole."

…

"Oh god, that must have been the most horrible set of puns ever said in succession."

"Let- let's just pretend this never happened."

…

"What's taking that girl so long?"

Ichigo turned back towards the door, she was indeed taking a long time to get dressed, it was a simple yukata, and surely they had those in Soul Society?

"Rukia?" He called, when he didn't get an answer, he tried again, and once more he got no answer.

"I'm coming in." And he did, and there the girl was, dressed in his little sister's never-before-used yukata, sitting on his bed and seemingly engrossed on her sketchbook.

"Uh, Rukia?" Ichigo was only slightly confused "Is she drawing bunnies again?" but mostly amused.

"For someone who probably is a hell of a lot older than you are, she sure seems to be quite childish."

"I'm not bringing up her age in front of her."

"Why?"

"It's basic Girl 101, you don't ask a girl for her age, or weight, or number of drinks needed for a successful date-rape."

"You're a strange person."

"I'll tell you what's strange, there was no sketchbook in this room, and she left all her clothes in the bathroom, so where the hell was she keeping it?"

"Do you believe in hammerspace?"

"No."

"Well, it's probably less disturbing if you do. I mean, your mother was capable of producing a large mallet seemingly out of nowhere. And since she obviously wasn't carrying it on her person, the only choice other than hammerspace is IN her person."

"You fucking asshole!"

"What?"

"You just implied that my mother kept a mallet in her-"

"Pay attention, she wants to show you something."

And she did, she was holding the sketchbook towards him with a neutral expression on her face, so he took it and checked out just what she was doing.

Name: Kuchiki Rukia

Age: 150

Profession: Shinigami.

Squad: Thirteenth.

"Rukia, what is this?" Ichigo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, last night, you told me a lot about yourself. It seemed only fair that I at least tell you a bit about me.

Ichigo could see the logic in that; it still didn't explain some of the content of her introduction letter.

Area of expertise: Kidō.

Current assignment: Karakura town patrol.

Shinigami Academy grades:

Wait, what?

"Academy grades? Huh, they're better than my father's, I guess. But beating a slug in a salt-eating contest isn't exactly something to brag about. Excellent Kidō score, Zanjutsu is excellent as well, the rest are pretty darn good grades. Still, why is she showing me this much?"

"Are you going to be this kind of person, Ichigo?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh dear god, you are. I can't believe this. I'm trapped in a typical Shōnen hero!"

"What."

"Powerful, passably handsome, strong set of morals, and completely clueless."

"Clueless?"

"She's trying to impress you, moron!"

"You're reading too much into it. And I'm more than passably handsome!"

"Impressive. Your grades are pretty good." Ichigo said with an approving nod and a slight smile. And the girl beamed at the praise.

"Told you so."

"Anyone reacts well to praise."

Ichigo ignored what seemed to be the sound of a head banging against a skyscraper's glass panels. "Your grades are actually a lot better than my father's."

Rukia now looked embarrassed "I- I'm sure that means nothing, I mean, your dad is probably a much stronger Shinigami! Grades don't mean that much anyway…" And now she looked a bit down. And Ichigo felt kind of bad.

"Oh no, your grades are something to be definitely proud of, I'm sure you worked your ass off for them."

She smiled again at that "But still, I don't think they matter that much in the long run. Some Shinigami improve a lot more than others once out of the academy."

"Well, yeah, I guess. Otherwise my father would have never made captain."

"Absolutely beautiful bombshell placement! I give it 10 out of 10."

Rukia found she was once again unable to keep her eyes from widening at yet another piece of information about the men of the Kurosaki family. It was years of practice at being a Kuchiki that kept her mouth from hanging wide open.

"Oh, I know. Let's make it a drinking game, every time Kurosaki Ichigo leaves someone astonished, you drink a cup of sake!"

"I'm not old enough to drink."

"Don't think there's enough sake around, either."

"Don't let that change your picture of him, though. Don't create any opinions until you actually meet him. The man is a goof, a complete spaz most of the time. A good father, but his spontaneous bouts of stupidity come far more often than his shows of wisdom."

"There should be an entity in charge of throwing lightning at whoever put both 'Kurosaki Isshin' and 'Wisdom' in the same sentence."

"At least I'd start praying, for once."

Rukia couldn't quite wrap her head around that, a Shinigami captain was the most respected figure of the Gotei 13, and although some of them were easily approachable, like her own captain, Ukitake Jūshirō, they all had a sort of legendary status, which gave them an impressive presence.

She decided she'd wait to meet the man before she formed an opinion, like Ichigo said. "He's his son, so I guess he'd know better than me."

"Alright, seeing as we're now done with proper introductions, we should start planning out our moves." Now Ichigo's face showed no amusement, he was totally serious, but Rukia had no idea what he was talking about.

"What do you mean 'planning our moves'? What is it you have in mind?"

Either the girl was playing dumb, or she had no clue of what had happened, or she just hasn't given it much thought. He was thinking it was the third, he had been mercilessly bombing her with the unexpected in the last twelve hours, and her mind probably hasn't caught up yet.

"You broke laws, Rukia."

At that, she had to wince. "Of course! I gave my powers to a human! Well, not really…"

"I don't know, Ichigo. You're not exactly human…"

"But there are no laws written for Purebloods, and I'm not sure I'm willing to bet everything on a potential enemy's mercy or reason."

Rukia had to raise an eyebrow at that "Potential enemy?"

"Well, yeah. The punishment for you breaking this particular law is death via Sōkyoku. There's too much at risk to just leave it all up to your possible condemners. What if we don't get to plead your case? What if they just act or for whatever reason the outcome is you on death row?"

Rukia could see where he was coming from, but there was still something off. "How is that your problem? You say it as if you'll fight whoever chooses to condemn me."

"I'll fight the whole damn Soul Society if I have to."

"Quick, another shot!"

Now that made her lose control of her jaw. "What? Why? You only met me last night! Why would you risk your life for someone you just met?"

"Well, for starters, I owe you quite a lot. You helped me awaken to my true self; you gave me the power to defend my little sisters and my home. Furthermore, you took an attack that could have killed me without a second thought, and ended up badly hurt because of that. And that led to this situation."

"You're really one to feel guilty, aren't you? Well, stop! I did that of my own choice, I don't think you owe me anything at all. I release you from any debts you think you may have towards me."

"Very well. That still doesn't change anything."

"What? Why not?"

"My ultimate goal, Rukia, is to protect, to guard at the cost of my own life. And last night, I decided you're one of those things I should protect. So that's what I'll do, I'll protect you, at the cost of my own life if I must. Don't think you can talk me out of it, you can try to if it makes you feel better, though."

"He's so annoyingly stubborn! He reminds me of…" Nostalgia, this man reminded her of someone she admired a long time ago "He looks a lot like him, too. Come to think of it, if his hair was shorter I'd think Shiba Kaien had started to dye his hair!"

"Besides, you helped me get my Zanpakutō a real form, asshole's been whining about it for years."

"9 out of 10 for your cheek. And hey look, you get to drink another shot!"

"You can communicate with your Zanpakutō? Already? But that takes years!"

"Took me about half a year, and back then he didn't even have a form, or a gender, or half the perverseness he has now. I think I liked him more back then, actually."

"When did you do this?"

"I was eleven, I think."

"I hope they all have designated drivers."

Would the surprises ever cease? Wait, what if – "Do you know his name?"

"Of course."

"What is it?"

"It's -" Ichigo seemed to think about something. "He doesn't want me to tell you."

"Forget the designated drivers; I hope someone gets an ambulance."

"What? Why not? And you just talked to him? You didn't even adopt a Jinzen position; you can't have gone to your inner world so fast!"

"Yes, I talked to him. No, I didn't go into my inner world. And he doesn't want me to tell you because he wants to keep it a secret form everyone until it's needed."

"Why's that?"

"He's a drama queen."

Rukia just had to laugh, it was so ridiculous, the whole situation and this – this! So she laughed out loud and without holding anything back.

"She has a pretty laugh."

"No she doesn't."

"You're just mad she's laughing at your expense."

"Hmph."

"Real mature."

Rukia recovered - her head now a lot clearer and in better condition to go on "How do you get to talk to him that way?"

"Well, I dunno. I and my Zanpakutō have always been pretty close. It was kind of weird at the beginning; we were practically the same person. That led to some pointless conversations."

"All conversations with you are pointless."

"Hush, the grown-ups are talking."

"I see." Kurosaki Ichigo was a strange phenomenon, something she was sure no one had ever seen before. She'd have to start taking things with a grain of salt.

She doubted she'd ever get used to it, though.

"I have to report back to Soul Society in three months, if I have recovered sufficiently by that time, then no one will find out about this."

"That's still a gamble with a lot at risk, Rukia."

She sighed, stubborn, alright.

"So what are you planning to do?"

"Well, first off, I have to get prepared, I have to train using my Shinigami powers, I can't be sure I won't end up blowing up a whole street with a small Hadō with my ridiculous Reiatsu. I have to learn Zanjutsu, I never had a sword before, and mine absolutely forbade me to train with any other sword before I got him. I have to get stronger, Rukia, especially if things will get as bad as I think they will."

"What're you talking about?"

"Your name is Kuchiki Rukia, Kuchiki. If I remember my history well, and I'm damn sure I do, that's a noble clan. So if your offense is registered, they'll send someone of a higher rank in the clan than you to fetch you on the idea that it's their honor at play. High clans have pretty strong Shinigami, and I'm sure any ranked above you is probably among the strongest."

Rukia was turning paler with every word, there was only one person she could think of that would be sent after her, and the idea scared her to no end.

"Nii-sama…"

"Who's that?"

"I think they, no, I know they would send Nii-sama, Kuchiki Byakuya, after me."

"Is he strong?"

"He's the 6th division captain."

"Well, shit."

A moment of uncomfortable, oppressive silence settled around them, with Rukia wondering just how she could ensure Ichigo wouldn't die, or how she'd manage to escape if it came to that, would she even want to do escape? She had to listen to her brother, he was the head of the clan, a captain, and the man who took her in and made her someone. But she didn't want to die. She was growing more desperate by the second.

Ichigo didn't even have to give it a second thought.

"I guess I'll just have to get stronger than I originally thought I'd have to."

And just like that, the pressure that had filled her head and the room around them completely vanished, and she could only blink at his simple solution. She couldn't just leave it at that, though.

"Are you crazy? He's a Shinigami captain, among the strongest of them all! There's no way you can get strong enough to fight him just like that! You'd need to achieve Bankai first!

"Then I'll get Bankai."

She should have argued that point more, but for a second there, perhaps because of the tone of his voice or the fierce look of his eyes were giving her, she actually believed it.

"Let's focus a bit more on the present. What are your plans, Rukia?"

"Well, first, I'd need a faux body to help restore my energy. The Human World lacks the spirit particle-enriched ambient of Soul Society, so I'd need to put my soul inside of a body so that it wouldn't be taxed by maintaining physical form. It would surely help in my recovery."

"And how are you planning to get one?"

"I- I don't know."

Ichigo had to suppress a sigh; it seemed they only had one way out of it.

"I told you my dad knew a… supplier of Shinigami goods among other things, it's where he got his customized gigai."

"You know where it is?"

"I have an idea of the general area, I'm pretty sure we can go from there."

That seemed as sound a plan as any other.

They arrived somewhere in downtown Karakura, not too far from the riverbank yet seemingly far from any big business center.

"Are you sure it's around here?"

"I'm not, my dad sucks at writing down directions, but it's a start."

"So where do we start looking?"

"We don't."

"Huh?"

She got her answer right away, as Ichigo's Reiatsu flared and reached levels she wasn't quite ready to feel, it took all her willpower to manage to sit down rather than end on her knees.

Regardless of Kuchiki decorum, she still wasn't sure if she could actually believe what she was seeing.

"We can start our own sake business! We'd be rich if we advertised the drinking game first!"

In front of Rukia, Ichigo Kurosaki, still in his human body, was exuding a level of Reiatsu that was just a notch away from that of a captain.

"And it keeps growing!"

"Here's another get-rich-quick scheme, we wrap the sake bottles in-"

"My my, whatever would make you do that? Bring it down; shaking the earth can only damage the foundations of all the buildings around here."

Ichigo brought his Reiatsu back down to undetectable, and then turned around to see the man he was trying to bring out.

Green coat, geta sandals, cool bucket hat, pale blond hair, and the most intelligent eyes he had ever seen on a person.

"Well, I guess something good can come out of this, after all."

"Urahara Kisuke-san, right?" Ichigo spoke to the man, who he knew was actually surprised but didn't even show a little bit of it. "Again, impressed."

"How delightful! It seems I've earned myself a reputation! But I, however, can't say I know who you are, young man." The man said with the tone of a man who found it all hilarious, but Ichigo could tell he was pretty serious about it.

He could also tell he was lying.

"You know very well who I am, Urahara-san, you were at my mother's funeral, and you helped my idiot of a father a lot with his studies back in the academy."

Kisuke chuckled outwardly, though he wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation, this was entirely unexpected.

"Hmm, ha-ha!" Now he pulled out a fan, Ichigo was sure it was just for show, it was a cool morning, what he wasn't sure about is how he managed to pull off a fan-user look without looking slightly effeminate. "Very well then. Come with me to my shop, we can continue our talk there, as well as discuss what is it you need my services for."

Ichigo nodded, and finally turned to Rukia, who was by now recovered from the sudden burst of spirit pressure.

"Sorry, I should have warned you first."

Urahara was now speeding over rooftops, so Ichigo grabbed Rukia and followed suit.

The shop was as out of the way as a shop could be; only someone who knew where it was could find it, even with the big 'Urahara's Shop' sign on the front.

A red haired kid was sweeping the outside of the shop, he seemed to either be horribly constipated or as if he had just lost someone very dear to him.

To the broom he was using, if the obvious hate for it was any evidence.

"Jinta, we have customers! Go tell Ururu and have some tea, and perhaps-" He looked at Ichigo for confirmation; Ichigo actually got the message and pointedly looked at Rukia before nodding. "Some breakfast as well for the lady. We'll be at the tea room."

The kid, Jinta, grumbled and looked annoyed at the orders, but left to do as he was told.

With that, they walked into the shop; the first room seemed as innocent as any other shop, candy shop, to be precise, could be. Except for maybe a couple of boxes, but they looked as unassuming as anything could.

They kept walking until they reached some sliding doors, which Kisuke opened for them and led them in.

"You can put me down now, you know."

"Oh, sorry."

They sat on their knees (well, the girl and the man in the bucket hat did, Ichigo sat cross-legged and mentally dared anyone to make him do otherwise) around a tea table, they waited just a few seconds before the door they had just come in from opened again, and in came a girl who seemed to be slightly older than the red-haired kid from earlier, black hair with a purple tint tied in two pig-tails and a long lock of hair falling down the middle of her face.

"How does she manage a blush while looking so sad?"

"It's like something out of an adult manga."

"Better question: How do I resist hugging her to death?"

"I brought the tea, Urahara-san."

"Oh for the love of- extremely shy, too?"

"Oh, thank you Ururu! Such a good girl!"

The girl smiled happily at the praise, and Ichigo could tell that Rukia nearly jumped to hug the stuffing out of her. After she left, they were left in a strangely comfortable silence.

Urahara took a sip of his tea and then put the cup down "I have to say, I didn't think Isshin would tell you about his past, he'd told he never would."

Ichigo looked the man in the eyes "He didn't, but he kept several journals and academy books as well as other written material hidden in his room. You could say I stumbled upon them a few years ago, I've been… busy since then."

Urahara considered this, it seemed his old friend had kept some mementos from his past, not that he could blame him, he had done the same.

"I see… I assume me and my services were mentioned in some of those."

"My dad wrote down the story of how he met my mother, and wrote down what he probably believed were good directions."

Urahara snorted, and Ichigo could tell there was probably some story there, but that could wait for another time.

"Very well, tell me what is it you want from me."

"Rukia," He nodded towards the girl who was taking in the conversation, if the inquisitive look she had meant anything, she was actually analyzing body language as well as tone of voice "It's a common practice in noble clans." She nodded back at him "needs a gigai, she's temporarily lost her powers and using one will help her regain them faster."

The man in the awesome hat now had a serious look on his face as he seemed to consider something, before looking at Ichigo with a smile "Well, tell you what, young man. I'll give you that gigai, free of charge. In exchange, however, I'd like to know the full story behind you and that girl."

Rukia looked at Ichigo at that, she had no problem telling him her story, short as it was, but Ichigo's tale was a longer, far more meaningful one, and she didn't know how he'd react to that.

Ichigo nodded slowly, before looking towards Rukia who once more nodded at him.

Rukia began her tale first, seeing as it was shorter and easier to explain, after she was done, Urahara seemed as if he hadn't much attention to anything except the parts where her impressions of Ichigo were concerned.

Then a small breakfast for her arrived, carried by the girl Rukia wanted to disguise as Chappy the Bunny and forever keep her as a hug doll.

Urahara listened more carefully to Ichigo, who, Rukia noted, spoke a very abridged version of what he had told her the previous night. He skipped over his motivations, some of his training, and most importantly, his link with his Zanpakutō.

"I guess he doesn't feel comfortable enough telling that tale." Which actually made her feel funny inside, until she remembered it's probably because he felt indebted to her.

Urahara fell into another pensive stance when Ichigo finished his tale; he had also spoken Rukia's part of the story, except from his point of view, which Urahara found quite amusing, something he was sure Ichigo agreed to.

He opened his eyes "Very well, if Shinigami-san has finished with her breakfast, we can get her a faux body, as well as some supplies I'm sure you'll need."

"Like what?"

"Well, there's this stylish glove I'm sure I have on the lady's size, which can pull souls out of their bodies. You haven't given much thought as to how you'd get out of your body, have you?"

"… Goddamn, Ichigo. He got us there."

"Huh, true."

"I also have some Gikongan, I'll give you one for free, but any future purchases go at the regular price, so bring money next time! Ha-ha!"

They were now outside the shop, Rukia seemed slightly uncomfortable in her gigai, though all Urahara said about it was "Don't worry! It's like a pair of new shoes, they'll stretch and fit you in better" they took his word for it, neither of them knew a damn about faux bodies.

"Oh, I completely forgot! Be right back, I'll get you your Gikongan."

Urahara walked to the back of his shop, and was about to reach for a box placed in a high shelf when he stopped; he looked down to another box close to his feet. He reached down, and took out a soul candy tube with a duck head in it as a dispenser. He chuckled as he took out one Gikongan and looked at it "Kurosaki Ichigo, you're a new player to this game, and yet so far I'm impressed. I'll deal you an unexpected card; let's see how you play it." He made his way out of the store and gave Ichigo his Gikongan.

As Ichigo and Rukia turned to leave, he couldn't resist saying "I have a last question, Ichigo, if you will."

Ichigo stopped and smiled, he was sure this was coming, he didn't bother turning around "Shoot."

"Why are you so distrustful towards me? I am an old friend of your father's, I am offering you my aid pretty much free of charge, and yet you trust the girl you carry far more than me, why?"

"Oh? Why do you say that? Maybe I do trust you."

Kisuke smiled behind his fan "Then why didn't you touch your tea?"

Ichigo laughed, and behind him, Kisuke joined him.

"I'll see you when I do, Hats-and-Clogs."

"Interesting."

"Yeah, I'll enjoy doing business here."

And that's it for this chapter.

I have to admit, I wasn't going to write this yet, but as I write it, I am sitting in front of a laptop in my classroom, listening to the most boring lecture ever.

His drone-like voice has been going at it for three hours now, and I still have to endure another forty minutes.

So far, Rukia has seemed entirely too different from her canon counterpart, I can explain that. You see, this particular Rukia has been caught off guard so many times in such a short time that it's taking her some time to wrap her head around it. But don't worry, she will, and the sometimes-appropriately-violent relationship she has with Ichigo in canon will shine through, though feelings will run deeper, respect will soar higher, and anyone playing my drinking game will pass out within 4k words.

Leave me your thoughts if you like; next chapter is bound to be out sooner, maybe.

- Flameal out.